Captain Smith and Mr. Cook both had fiancées. Captain Smith's was Igraine Lombard while Mr. Cook's was Eleanor Armstrong. Choosing the pragmatic solution of a double wedding, the couples would be married alongside one another at Quebec Castle.
Ms. Lombard was seventeen years younger than Captain Smith. She was half-Swiss and half-Cree, slender, brown eyed and had long black hair and she stood at a height of five feet and nine inches. Her typical choice of attire was a white dress with shoes of the same color. Her uncle's hunting caracal Philip had been the first caracal she had ever seen, and it had even been she who had first described him as "awful and mean-tempered." When she met Darius, Ms. Lombard was pleasantly surprised. At last, she had met a caracal with a better temperament and a better appearance. When she first met Roxana, she remarked: "Her temperament is not as bad as Philip's was. I'd say there is a better chance of her improving than ever there was for him."
Ms. Armstrong was older than Ms. Lombard yet still younger than Captain Smith and Mr. Cook. She was a brown-haired woman with light skin and blue eyes. Her body was less slender than Ms. Lombard's, her hair she kept in a bun and her attire consisted of a blue blouse, a purple skirt, blue shoes, and gold earrings.
In the dinning room of Quebec Castle tea was held. Attending tea were Captain Smith, Nana Smith, Alan Ms. Lombard, Mr. Cook, Gemma, and Ms. Armstrong. Cnut and Emma both lay on different sides of the table, the former by his master's side while his mate lay near Ms. Lombard. Roxana was beneath the table, rubbing against Gemma's legs while Alexander was sniffing Ms. Lombard's hand, which she had extended so he might be more familiar with her. Ms. Armstrong did the same and so he knew the faces and the scents of two new people.
After sniffing the hands of Ms. Lombard and Ms. Armstrong, Alexander then approached Emma. She was a sable-colored rough collie and four inches smaller at the shoulder than her wolfdog mate. As soon as the five-year-old collie noticed Alexander, she proceeded to lick him, causing the caracal to take a few steps back, before sniffing Emma's fur, allowing her to lick him.
"Alexander is a fine specimen." Commented Ms. Lombard, speaking to Captain Smith. "Northern?"
"Yes, the offspring of champion bird hunters Amen-Ra and Olympias." Answered Captain Smith, pouring himself a cup of tea. "Now, we are sure about having the wedding after Halloween?"
"But before Christmas, Kull." Stated Ms. Armstrong.
"Yes, with there being no holidays in November, it makes perfect sense." Added Mr. Cook.
"I will never be able to understand Americans." Uttered Nana Smith, after taking a sip of her tea. "Thanksgiving in November? Why it is absolute madness! Thanksgiving belongs on the second Monday of October, not the fourth Thursday of November."
"Oh, no…" Alan groaned, putting down his cup of tea while a resigned expression appeared upon Gemma's countenance. "Not again."
"Uh, yes, well…" Captain Smith took a pocket watch out of his right-hand pocket and asked: "Any idea where Severine or Adrian are? Wait, they already had their tea break… Uh…" Captain Smith found himself at a loss. What was he to do about preventing his mother's latest tirade about their southern neighbours having Thanksgiving in a different month?
"Alan, what are you currently reading?" inquired Ms. Lombard, hoping she could do a better job at changing the subject than her fiancé could.
While all this talk occurred, Alexander approached Roxana. Her reaction was to flatten her ears and glare at her intended mate.
"'The White Company' by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle." Alan answered, smiling as he did so.
"I will never understand why you like his historical fiction more than you do the Sherlock Holmes stories." Commented Mr. Cook, stirring his tea.
"I like stories about knights." Returned Alan. "Have since childhood."
"I remember how you would impersonate a decent banneret who stood up to visionary adversaries." Uttered Nana Smith, a smile spreading across her face. "It would be one of King Arthur's knights one day, one of Charles the Great's paladin's the next, and you would always be Gemma's champion."
"Well, who else was there for him to be the champion of?" asked Captain Smith. "Gemma was the only child here who was not Alan's elder by three years." Alexander tried to rub his forehead against Roxana's, causing the female to hiss at him. Without even looking, Captain Smith said: "Alexander, give Roxana space." Alexander walked away from Roxana and then proceeded to jump onto the dinning table. A less than impressed Captain Smith then uttered: "Preferably not by jumping onto the table."
Captain Smith may have been less than impressed, but everyone else at the table was rather amused. When Alexander approached Gemma and sniffed her cup of tea, she said: "Hello, do you want tea?" After sniffing the tea and finding it to be something of no interest to him, Alexander then meowed at Gemma, as Alan extended a hand to scratch the caracal's chin.
"Alan, stop. We are not encouraging this." Captain Smith uttered, sternly and at the same time annoyed. Standing up, he walked over to Alan and Gemma and picked up Alexander. Placing the caracal down on the floor, he then said: "Now stay on the floor!" to which Alexander replied by staring up, meowing at his master and then proceeding to rub against the Captain's legs. "Yes, Alexander, I love you too, but you cannot come up onto the table."
As his uncle sat back down, Alan then said: "I have been thinking if the Great War is still going on by the time that I am nineteen, then I should like to enlist and become one of the new bannerets." What he said was enough to cause everyone to stare at him as if he was mad. When Alan spoke of the "new bannerets", he meant the warplane aeronauts, a new breed of soldier, whose brightly colored kites were brooches of approbation. To the citizenry, the warplane aeronauts were gentle bannerets who bestrode acrobatic airborne steeds high above the bloodbath in the fosses. It was believed that antagonistic aeronauts acknowledged one another in the atmosphere and saluted their deceased associates and adversaries equally. Actually, that act was as feeble as the cloth that covered their wood-battened kites. The blessed expired from machine-gun ammunition; more often these adolescent menfolk baked alive in frangible airplanes that all too easily became beauteous afire caskets.
Captain Smith, a veteran of the Second Boer War, could only stare with eyes that seemed like those of a snarling beast. While all others tried to find their voices, Gemma particularly looking as if she had awakened from a nightmare, the Captain uttered: "I lost my sister and my brother-in-law to this war! I will not lose my nephew as well!"
"Uncle Kull! Come now! War is—"
"War is Acheron!" Captain Smith roared causing Alexander to look up at him with wide eyes. "My father your grandfather was never the same after the Fenian Raids, two of your uncles died during that conflict and I saw enough expiry during the Second Boer War to last me a lifetime! If your aim is to be Desdichado as Ivanhoe was you will! Our family is done with war and I will not tolerate my own nephew seeking his demise in a burning coffin!" No sooner did Captain Smith finish speaking did Gemma flee from the room, tears flowing from her eyes. Alan soon followed after her and after him came Alexander.